The Press MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1936. Politics in Spain

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21715, 24 February 1936, Page 10

The Press MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1936. Politics in Spain

The result of the elections in Spain last week has been generally interpreted as a victory for republicanism; and on a short view of the situation this interpretation is correct. The parties supporting the republic have been strengthened, the new Prime Minister, Senor Azana, has, during his career as an opposition leader, shown devotion to the principles of constitutional government, free municipal institutions have been restored, and the republican constitution, which has been suspended since 1933, is once more in force. It does not seem, however, that the Spanish nation has pronounced finally in favour of republicanism or that it has acquired the political discipline necessary to the' smooth functioning of representative institutions. The events of the last few days have shown clearly that there are still powerful groups at both extremes of the political scale ready to use force if election results do .not please them. The new Government has already had to cope with an attempt to establish a military dictatorship; and although the trade union movement has decided against a general strike it has not been able to prevent labour disorders in most of the large towns. Moreover, the result of the lifting of the press censorship which was instituted 18 months ago has not been encouraging. The violent tone of most of the newspapers shows that the Spanish press has still to learn the wisdom of restraint in political controversy. The truth is, perhaps, that the victory of the parties led by Senor Azana was due less to popular enthusiasm for the republic than to the restoration of confiscated estates by the Lerroux Government and the growing influence of Senor Gil Robles, who aims at the restoration of the power of the Roman Catholic Church and the establishment of some sort of corporative state. Since the abolition of the monarchy, in 1931 Spanish political opinion has veered uncertainly between two widely-separated extremes. Between 1931 and 1933 the swing to thte left was so pronounced that a communist dictatorship was in sight. Towards the end of 1933 there was an abrupt reaction; and in the ensuing two years most of the radical legislation passed in the first year of the republic was either repealed or modified. There is, little reason to suppose that the swing back to the left is an index to the true political temper of the Spanish people.